Application of Multiparameter Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Evaluation of Graves' Ophthalmopathy.

BACKGROUND: Assessment of the activity of Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) is difficult. Existing methods need improvement. PURPOSE: Investigate the application of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in GO. STUDY TYPE: Retrospective. POPULATION: A total of 235 GO patients (age: 38.8 ± 13.4 years; 90 male; 96 active patients). FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: Short-tau inversion recovery (STIR) fast spin echo, multiecho spin echo T2 mapping and 3D T1-weighted fast field echo sequences at 3.0 T. ASSESSMENT: Two physicians assessed the mean and maximum signal intensity ratio of extraocular muscles to white matter (SIR), T2 relaxation time (T2RT), extraocular muscle area (EMA), fat fraction (FF), retrobulbar fat volume (RFV), and extraocular muscle volume (EMV). Clinical activity score (CAS) â‰§ 3 was in active stage. STATISTICAL TESTS: The optimal cut-off point of diagnostic efficacy was selected using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and evaluated using area under the curve (AUC), compared using Student's t test, analysis of variance or Kruskal-Wallis H test. The correlation used Pearson correlation analysis. The discriminant equation used a binary logistic regression analysis. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The SIRmean, SIRmax, T2RTmean, T2RTmax, EMA, and EMV in active GO patients were significantly higher than those in inactive and were positively correlated with CAS (r = 0.276, 0.228, 0.438, 0.388, 0.502, and 0333, respectively). The FFmax of active patients was significantly lower than that of inactive patients and was negatively correlated with CAS (r = -0.44). Logistic regression analysis indicated that T2RTmean was independently associated with GO active periods and had good diagnostic performance (area under ROC curve = 0.736, sensitivity 70.7%, specificity 69.3%). T2RTmean â‰§ 74.295 could be a diagnostic cut-off for judging GO activity (sensitivity 55.3%). CONCLUSION: SIR, T2RT, EMV, and FF can quantitatively assess the activity and severity of GO and can potentially provide a basis for clinical judgment and selection of treatment options. EVIDENCE LEVEL: 4. TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 2.

Cellular vimentin promotes the nuclear transport of the HBoV1 structural protein VP1u.

Human bocavirus 1 (HBoV1) is an important pathogen causing lower respiratory tract infection. The VP1 unique region (VP1u), consisting of 129 amino acids at the N-terminus of the HBoV1 structural protein VP1, is an important component of virus infection. Bioinformatics analysis predicted that HBoV1 VP1u exhibits two bipartite nuclear localization signals (NLS) and contains four basic regions (BRs). The two potential bipartite NLSs consist of BR2 and 3 and BR3 and 4, respectively. In this study, we inserted the truncated vp1u sequences into a double EGFP fusion expression vector and confirmed the vimentin (VIM)-HBoV1 VP1u interaction by mass spectrometry and immunoprecipitation. The results of our IFA analysis showed that all four VP1u BRs displayed strong nuclear transport functions. We further demonstrated that VP1u interacted with VIM and that they colocalized in the cytoplasm. VP1u expression in the cells enhanced the VIM expression, and the VP1u expression also increased upon VIM overexpression, although it was not affected by VIM knockdown. Upon VIM overexpression, VP1u nucleation was significantly enhanced, but was inhibited by VIM downregulation. These results indicate that the VP1u-VIM interaction could be involved in the nuclear transport of VP1u. VP1u nucleation might further affect HBoV1 replication and infection. This study could potentially help clarify the function of VP1u by further revealing the HBoV1 nuclear transport mechanism and provide a new approach for elucidating the molecular mechanism of HBoV1 replication.

Application of comprehensive u nit-based safety program model in the inter-hospital transfer of patients with critical diseases: a retrospective controlled study.

BACKGROUND: To explore the effect of applying a comprehensive unit-based safety program (CUSP) in the intrahospital transfer of patients with critical diseases. METHODS: A total of 426 critically ill patients in the first affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from August 2018 to February 2019 were divided into two groups according to the time of admission. Overall, 202 patients in the control group were treated with the routine transfer method, and 224 patients in the observational group were treated with the transfer method based on the CUSP model. The safety culture assessment data of medical staff, the occurrence rate of adverse events and related causes, the time of transfer, and the satisfaction of patients' relatives to the transfer process were compared before and after implementation of the transfer model between the two groups. RESULTS: Before and after the implementation of the CUSP mode transfer program, there were significant differences in the scores of all dimensions of the safety culture assessment of medical staff (P < 0.05), and the occurrence rate of adverse events and the causes in the observational group were significantly lower than those in the control group (disease-related, staff-related, equipment-related, environment-related) (P < 0.05). The transfer time for Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), operating room, and the interventional room was significantly shorter in the observational group than that in the control group (P < 0.05), while the satisfaction of relatives to the transfer process was significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The implementation of CUSP model for the intrahospital transfer of critically ill patients can significantly shorten the in-hospital transfer time, improve the attitude of medical staff towards safety, reduce the occurrence rate of adverse events, and improve the satisfaction of patients' relatives to the transfer process.

Molecular cloning and characteristics of DnaJa1and DnaJb1 in Coilia nasus: possible function involved in oogenesis during spawning migration.

BACKGROUND: Coilia nasus oogenesis/spawning migration is a well-defined synchronous arrangement process. DnaJs are indispensable molecular chaperones for oogenesis process. However, how DnaJs involved the anadromous spawning migration mechanism is outstanding and plausible. RESULTS: In this regard, two DnaJs (Cn-DnaJa1 and Cn-DnaJb1) are cloned from the Coilia nasus's ovary. Their structure both contains J domain, G/F domain and ZF domain. Their mRNA transcripts were found extensively expressed in all the sampled tissues and significantly highly in gonads, which probably mean that DnaJs involved in C. nasus's gonad development basal metabolic processes. In the process of spawning migration, Cn-DnaJa1 and Cn-DnaJb1 mRNA transcripts were also expressed with significant differences during oogenesis with highest levels in the development phase, and maintaining high levels during the multiplication, mature and spawning phase. Further study showed that the DnaJa1and DnaJb1protein have high distribution in the onset phase and mainly distributed in the oocyte cytoplasm especially during the migration development phase's. CONCLUSIONS: This experiment study demonstrated that DnaJs participate in reproductive regulation during the spawning migration process in C. nasus and possibly play a vital role in the ovary development process. These findings also provided a base knowledge for further molecular mechanism study of spawning migration.

Systemic inflammatory response syndrome in Sepsis-3: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: In the new Sepsis-3 definition, sepsis is defined as "life-threatening organ dysfunction due to a dysregulated host response to infection." We tested the predictive validity of the systematic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria in patients in the Sepsis-3 cohort. METHODS: Among 1243 electronic health records from 1 January to 31 December 2015 at Sichuan University West China Hospital, we identified patients with sepsis and septic shock according to the Sepsis-3 definition and divided them into 2 subsets: SIRS-positive and SIRS-negative. We compared their characteristics and outcomes as well as the predictive validity of the SIRS criteria for in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: Of the 1243 patients, 631 were enrolled. Among these, 538 (85.3%) patients had SIRS-positive sepsis or septic shock, 168 (31.2%) of whom died, and 93 (14.7%) had SIRS-negative sepsis or septic shock, 20 (21.5%) of whom died (p = 0.06). Over a 1-year period, these groups had similar characteristics and changes in mortality. Among patients of the Sepsis-3 cohort admitted to the intensive care unit, the predictive validity for in-hospital mortality was lower for the SIRS criteria (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUROC], 0.53; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.49-0.57) than for the sequential (sepsis-related) organ failure assessment (SOFA) criteria (AUROC, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.66-0.74; p ≤ 0.01 for both). The SIRS score had poor predictive validity for the risk of in-hospital mortality. CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort study of the new Sepsis-3 definition, we found that the SIRS criteria are weaker than the SOFA criteria with respect to their predictive efficacy for in-hospital death.

Nonstructural Protein NP1 of Human Bocavirus 1 suppresses the growth of A549 cell by promoting autophagy.

Human bocavirus 1 (HBoV1) refers to a human parvovirus causing acute respiratory tract infection in children. Bocaviruses encode an NP1 protein, which has 47% amino acid homology with NP1 of Minute Virus of Canines (MVC) and Bovine Parvovirus (BPV), but not with any protein of other parvoviruses. NP1 was found to induce apoptosis in Hela cells, which does not depend on viral replication and other protein expression. However, whether NP1 induces pulmonary cell death is unclear. In the present study, we investigate the impacts of NP1 on the autophagy and viability of A549 cells by expressing NP1. The plasmid containing NP1 gene was transfected into A549 cells. The apoptosis of A549 was evaluated by apoptosis detection kit and expression of caspase3. Cell viability and cell migration were detected by CCK8 kit and cell scratch test, respectively. The autophagy-related proteins and HMGB1 were detected by Western blot after NP1 expression in transfected cells. The real-time PCR was employed to detect HMGB1 mRNA. The secretory HMGB1 in supernatant of cell culture was measured by ELISA kit. The transient expression of NP1 did not induce apoptosis in A549 cells, but inhibited cell viability and migration. The expression of Beclin1 and LC3 II increased significantly and that of autophagy substrate P62 decreased dramatically upon transfection of NP1. The expression of NP1 reduced both levels of mRNA and protein HMGB1. The NP1 induced A549 autophagy was activated by STAT3 signaling pathway. HBoV1 NP1 induced autophagy in A549 cells by activating phosphorylation of STAT3 signaling pathway and inhibited A549 cell viability. This study provides insight into further elucidating the replication mechanism of HBoV1.

Transcription Factor Sp1 Promotes the Expression of Porcine ROCK1 Gene.

Rho-associated, coiled-coil containing protein kinase 1 (ROCK1) gene plays a crucial role in maintaining genomic stability, tumorigenesis and myogenesis. However, little is known about the regulatory elements governing the transcription of porcine ROCK1 gene. In the current study, the transcription start site (TSS) was identified by 5'-RACE, and was found to differ from the predicted one. The region in ROCK1 promoter which is critical for promoter activity was investigated via progressive deletions. Site-directed mutagenesis indicated that the region from -604 to -554 bp contains responsive elements for Sp1. Subsequent experiments showed that ROCK1 promoter activity is enhanced by Sp1 in a dose-dependent manner, whereas treatment with specific siRNA repressed ROCK1 promoter activity. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), DNA pull down and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays revealed Sp1 can bind to this region. qRT-PCR and Western blotting research followed by overexpression or inhibition of Sp1 indicate that Sp1 can affect endogenous ROCK1 expression at both mRNA and protein levels. Overexpression of Sp1 can promote the expression of myogenic differentiation 1(MyoD), myogenin (MyoG), myosin heavy chain (MyHC). Taken together, we conclude that Sp1 positively regulates ROCK1 transcription by directly binding to the ROCK1 promoter region (from -604 to -532 bp) and may affect the process of myogenesis.

MicroRNA-based interventions in aberrant cell cycle diseases: Therapeutic strategies for cancers, central nervous system disorders and comorbidities.

Malignant tumors and central nervous system (CNS) disorders are intricately linked to a process known as "aberrant cell cycle re-entry," which plays a critical role in the progression of these diseases. Addressing the dysregulation in cell cycles offers a promising therapeutic approach for cancers and CNS disorders. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a crucial role as regulators of gene expression in cell cycle transitions, presenting a promising therapeutic avenue for treating these disorders and their comorbidities. This review consolidates the progress made in the last three years regarding miRNA-based treatments for diseases associated with aberrant cell cycle re-entry. It encompasses exploring fundamental mechanisms and signaling pathways influenced by miRNAs in cancers and CNS disorders, particularly focusing on the therapeutic effects of exosome-derived miRNAs. The review also identifies specific miRNAs implicated in comorbidity of cancers and CNS disorders, discusses the future potential of miRNA reagents in managing cell cycle-related diseases.

Improving the uptake of PAHs by the ornamental plant Sedum spectabile using nano-SiO2 and nano-CeO2.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) pollution is a global ecological soil problem. Screening and establishing an efficient phytoremediation system would be beneficial for alleviating this problem. The ornamental plant Sedum spectabile was selected as the remediation plant to study the removal efficiencies of PAHs after adding different concentrations of nano-SiO2, nano-CeO2, and traditional Na-montmorillonite (Na-MMT). The results demonstrated that shoot biomass was increased and photosynthesis was enhanced by the nanomaterial amendments. The uptake of 16 PAHs by S. spectabile was remarkably increased. Moreover, the two highest shoot concentrations were 7.61 (Phe) and 12.03 (Flo) times that of the control, and the two highest translocation factors were 31 (BbF) and 28 (BaP) times that of the control. Furthermore, 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed that the addition of nano-SiO2 increased the abundance of Acidobacteria, and the genera related to PAH degradation was higher under nanomaterial treatments. The very high Si concentration in the shoots of S. spectabile had a significant linear correlation with the concentration of PAHs. In conclusion, the S. spectabile remediation system assisted by two nanomaterials was effective for the removal of PAHs from soil, and the transfer of PAHs to easily harvested aboveground plant parts was especially worthy of attention.

A Randomized Clinical Trial of Intravenous Methylprednisolone With 2 Protocols in Patients With Graves Orbitopathy.

CONTEXT: Intravenous glucocorticoid (IVGC) is an accessible and affordable treatment for Graves orbitopathy (GO); the 4.5-g protocol is well studied, but many details of treatment protocols need to be clarified. OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and safety of weekly and monthly protocol of IVGC in GO. METHODS: A prospective, randomized, observer-masked, single-center clinical trial, followed up to week 24, at the third affiliated hospital of Southern Medical University; 58 patients with active and moderate to severe GO, aged 18-60 years old, who had not received relevant treatment were included. The intervention was weekly protocol or monthly protocol of IVGC; both received a cumulative dose of methylprednisolone 4.5 g and had a duration of 12 weeks. The overall effective rate, improvement of quality of life (QOL) and signal intensity ratio (SIR) were measured. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the effective rate between the 2 groups at week 12 and week 24 (86.21% vs 72.41%, P = .195; 86.21% vs 82.61%, P = .441), there was no significant difference in the improvement of clinical activity score, exophthalmos, soft tissue involvement, diplopia, and QOL. At week 24, the mean SIR and maximum SIR of the 2 groups were lower than those before treatment, and there were no statistically significant difference between the 2 groups. There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse events between the 2 groups (31.03% vs 27.59%, P = .773). CONCLUSION: The efficacy and safety of the 2 protocols are comparable; the monthly protocol could be used as an alternative to the weekly protocol.

Gene cloning, expression and activity analysis of manganese superoxide dismutase from two strains of Gracilaria lemaneiformis (Gracilariaceae, Rhodophyta) under heat stress.

Manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) plays a crucial role in antioxidant responses to environmental stress. To determine whether Mn-SOD affects heat resistance of Gracilaria lemaneiformis, we cloned Mn-SOD cDNA sequences of two strains of this red alga, wild type and cultivar 981. Both cDNA sequences contained an ORF of 675 bp encoding 224 amino acid residues. The cDNA sequences and the deduced amino acid sequences of the two strains shared relatively high identity (more than 99%). No intron existed in genomic DNA of Mn-SOD in G. lemaneiformis. Southern blotting indicated that there were multiple copies, possibly four, of Mn-SOD in both strains. Both in the wild type and cultivar 981, SOD mRNA transcription and SOD activity increased under high temperature stress, while cultivar 981 was more heat resistant based on its SOD activity. This research suggests that there may be a direct relationship between SOD activity and the heat resistance of G. lemaneiformis.

Recombinant Family 1 Carbohydrate-Binding Modules Derived From Fungal Cellulase Enhance Enzymatic Degradation of Lignocellulose as Novel Effective Accessory Protein.

Fungal cellulases usually contain a family 1 carbohydrate-binding module (CBM1), and its role was considered to recognize the substrate specifically. This study testified that the CBM1s derived from cellobiohydrolase I of Trichoderma reesei, Penicillium oxalicum, and Penicillium funiculosum could be used as an effective accessory protein in cellulase cocktails to enhance the saccharification of lignocellulose, and its enhancement effect was significantly superior to some reported accessory proteins, such as bovine serum albumin (BSA). The promoting effects of the CBM1s were related to not only the CBM1 sources and protein dosages, but also the substrate characteristics and solid consistency during enzymatic hydrolysis. The adsorption capacity of the CBM1s, the adsorption kinetic of TrCBM from T. reesei and cellobiohydrolase, endoglucanase, and ß-glucosidase from P. oxalicum, and the effect of adding TrCBM on enzyme activities of free cellulases in the hydrolysis system were investigated, and the binding conformations and affinities of CBM1s to cellulose and lignin were predicted by molecular docking. It was speculated that the higher affinity of the CBM1s to lignin than cellulases could potentially enable the CBM1s to displace cellulase adsorbed on lignin or to preferentially adsorb onto lignin to avoid ineffective adsorption of cellulase onto lignin, which enhanced cellulase system efficiency during enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose.

New considerations on the phylogeny of Sessilida (Protista: Ciliophora: Peritrichia) based on multiple-gene information, with emphasis on colonial taxa.

The subclass Peritrichia, containing two orders Sessilida and Mobilida, is a major group of ciliates with worldwide distribution and high species diversity. Several studies have investigated the phylogeny of peritrichs; however, the evolutionary relationships and classification of some families and genera within the Sessilida remain unclear. In the present study, we isolated and identified 22 peritrich populations representing four families and six genera and obtained 64 rDNA sequences to perform phylogenetic analyses and assess their systematic relationships. Ancestral character reconstruction was also carried out to infer evolutionary routes within the Sessilida. The results indicate: (1) family Vaginicolidae is monophyletic and acquisition of the typical peritrich lorica represents a single evolutionary divergence; (2) core epistylidids evolved from a Zoothamnium-like ancestor and experienced spasmoneme loss during evolution; (3) Campanella clusters with species in the basal clade and shows stable morphological differences with other epistylidids, supporting its assignment to a separate family; (4) the structure of the peristomial lip may be a genus-level character rather than a diagnostic character for discriminating Epistylididae and Operculariidae, thus a redefinition of Operculariidae should be carried out when more species have been investigated; (5) some characters, such as lifestyle (solitary or colonial), spasmoneme and living habit (sessile or free-swimming), evolved repeatedly among sessilids indicating that species with non-contractile stalks or that are free-swimming have multiple evolutionary routes and might derive from any sessilid lineage without a lorica. The close phylogenetic relationships of some morphologically distinct sessilids imply that the diagnoses of some genera and families should be improved.

Molecular characterization and expression patterns of serine/arginine-rich specific kinase 3 (SPRK3) in porcine skeletal muscle.

SRPK3 is a protein kinase belonging to serine/arginine protein kinases (SRPK) family, which phosphorylates serine/arginine repeat-containing proteins, and is controlled by a muscle-specific enhancer directly regulated by MEF2. In this study, a full-length cDNA of the porcine SRPK3 gene encoding a 566 amino acid protein was isolated. It contains 14 exons over approximately 4.3 kb. The deduced amino acid sequence of porcine SRPK3 contains a bipartite kinase domain, and shows high similarities to their corresponding human and cattle homologues. Tissue distribution analysis indicated that porcine SRPK3 mRNAs are highly expressed in heart and skeletal muscle especially in uterus and parorchis, but at low level in brain, stomach, small intestine, and ovary. Expression pattern of SRPK3 was similar in Large White and Chinese Meishan breeds. Both the two breeds had the highest expression levels at fetal 65 days (P < 0.01), and decreased while the age increased until 60 days old, then increased at 120 days (P < 0.01) and decreased at 180 days (P < 0.05). However, at fetal 65 days, the mRNA abundance of SRPK3 in Large White was 12.5-fold higher than in Meishan pigs (P < 0.01), whereas at 180 days, the abundance in Meishan was 3.4-fold higher than in Large White pigs (P < 0.01). These results suggest that the SRPK3 gene might be an important gene of skeletal muscle development and also provides basic molecular information useful for further studies on its roles in porcine skeletal muscle.

Pretreatment Affects Profits From Xylanase During Enzymatic Saccharification of Corn Stover Through Changing the Interaction Between Lignin and Xylanase Protein.

Effective pretreatment is vital to improve the biomass conversion efficiency, which often requires the addition of xylanase as an accessory enzyme to enhance enzymatic saccharification of corn stover. In this study, we investigated the effect of two sophisticated pretreatment methods including ammonium sulfite (AS) and steam explosion (SE) on the xylanase profits involved in enzymatic hydrolysis of corn stover. We further explored the interactions between lignin and xylanase Xyn10A protein. Our results showed that the conversion rates of glucan and xylan in corn stover by AS pretreatment were higher by Xyn10A supplementation than that by SE pretreatment. Compared with the lignin from SE pretreated corn stover, the lignin from AS pretreated corn stover had a lower Xyn10A initial adsorption velocity (13.56 vs. 10.89 mg g-1 min-1) and adsorption capacity (49.46 vs. 27.42 mg g-1 of lignin) and weakened binding strength (310.6 vs. 215.9 L g-1). Our study demonstrated the low absolute zeta potential and strong hydrophilicity of the lignin may partly account for relative weak interaction between xylanase protein and lignin from AS pretreated corn stover. In conclusion, our results suggested that AS pretreatment weakened the inhibition of lignin to enzyme, promoted the enzymatic hydrolysis of corn stover, and decreased the cost of enzyme in bioconversion.

SPTBN1 Prevents Primary Osteoporosis by Modulating Osteoblasts Proliferation and Differentiation and Blood Vessels Formation in Bone.

Osteoporosis is a common systemic skeletal disorder that leads to increased bone fragility and increased risk of fracture. Although ßII-Spectrin (SPTBN1) has been reported to be involved in the development of various human cancers, the function and underlying molecular mechanisms of SPTBN1 in primary osteoporosis remain unclear. In this study, we first established a primary osteoporosis mouse model of senile osteoporosis and postmenopausal osteoporosis. The results showed that the expression of SPTBN1 was significantly downregulated in primary osteoporosis mice model compared with the control group. Furthermore, silencing of SPTBN1 led to a decrease in bone density, a small number of trabecular bones, wider gap, decreased blood volume fraction and number of blood vessels, as well as downregulation of runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2), Osterix (Osx), Osteocalcin (Ocn), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in primary osteoporosis mice model compared with the control group. Besides, the silencing of SPTBN1 inhibited the growth and induced apoptosis of mouse pre-osteoblast MC3T3-E1 cells compared with the negative control group. Moreover, the silencing of SPTBN1 significantly increased the expression of TGF-ß, Cxcl9, and the phosphorylation level STAT1 and Smad3 in MC3T3-E1 cells compared with the control group. As expected, overexpression of SPTBN1 reversed the effect of SPTBN1 silencing in the progression of primary osteoporosis both in vitro and in vivo. Taken together, these results suggested that SPTBN1 suppressed primary osteoporosis by facilitating the proliferation, differentiation, and inhibition of apoptosis in osteoblasts via the TGF-ß/Smad3 and STAT1/Cxcl9 pathways. Besides, overexpression of SPTBN1 promoted the formation of blood vessels in bone by regulating the expression of VEGF. This study, therefore, provided SPTBN1 as a novel therapeutic target for osteoporosis.

Characterization of the porcine differentially expressed PDK4 gene and association with meat quality.

To investigate the differential expression of genes in the skeletal muscle between Yorkshire and Chinese indigenous breed Meishan pigs, suppression subtractive hybridization was carried out and many genes were proved to be expressed significantly different in the two breeds. One gene highly expressed in Meishan but lowly expressed in Yorkshire specific library, shared strong homology with human pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 (PDK4). Using semi-quantity and quantity PCR, We confirmed its differential expression between the two breeds. Temporal and spatial expression analysis indicated that porcine PDK4 gene is highly expressed in skeletal muscle and the highest in neonatal pigs. Complete cDNA cloning and sequence analysis revealed that porcine PDK4 gene contains an open reading frame of 1,221 bp. The deduced amino acid sequence showed conservation in evolution. A G/A mutation in intron 9 was identified and association analysis showed that it was significantly associated with intramuscular fat, muscle water content.

A simple and green synthesis of carbon quantum dots from coke for white light-emitting devices.

Coke is a by-product of coal. This paper reports a simple and green chemical oxidation method for carbon quantum dots (CQDs) from coke for use in novel applications. The CQDs emit blue fluorescence and have a fluorescence quantum yield of 9.2% and blue-green-red spectral composition of 48%. A light-emitting diode (LED) was fabricated by combining the CQDs as a white-light converter with an ultraviolet chip. The Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage chromaticity coordinate (0.31, 0.35) and correlated color temperature (5125 K) of the LED are located in a cool white light zone, suggesting that they have superior potential application in lighting devices.

[Establishment of stable cell line expressing human bocavirus type 1 non-structural protein NS1 and its trans-transcriptional activation].

Human bocavirus 1 (HBoV1) non-structural protein NS1 is a multifunctional protein important for virus replication and induction of apoptosis in host cell. To better understand the function of the NS1 protein, it is urgent to address reducing the toxicity of NS1 to host cells. In the present study, we established a stable cell line that regulates expression of NS1 of HBoV1. The recombinant lentivirus plasmid containing a regulatable promoter fused with ns1 gene was constructed and transfected into HEK 293T cells using transfection reagent. The HEK 293T cell lines stably expressing NS1-100 and NS1-70 proteins were established by screening resistant cells with puromycin and inducing NS1 expression with doxycycline. The expression of NS1 protein was determined by fluorescent labeling protein and Western blotting. HBoV1 promoter was transfected into stably expressing NS1 cell line and its trans-transcriptional activity was analyzed. The results showed that NS1 protein was expressed stably in the established cell lines and had a strong activation activity on the HBoV1 promoter driving luciferase gene. Taken together, this study provides a solid basis for further research on the function of NS1 and the pathogenesis of human bocavirus.

FoxL2 combined with Cyp19a1a regulate the spawning upstream migration in Coilia nasus.

FoxL2 is a member of the forkhead/HNF-3-related family of transcription factors which provides tissue specific gene regulation. It is known to regulate ovarian aromatase, which plays a crucial role in ovarian development and mature. To understand the role of FoxL2/ovarian aromatase encoded gene Cyp19a1a during ovarian development and recrudescence, we identified cDNA characteristics of FoxL2 and Cyp19a1a, analyzed its temporal expression both at transcript and protein levels in the anadromous fish, Coilia nasus. Tissue distribution pattern revealed that FoxL2 mRNA expression level was highest in ovary, while Cyp19a1a mRNA was highest in brain. During the upstream migration cycle, in ovary, the FoxL2 mRNA temporal expression peaked at the multiplication stage (stage III in May), the Cyp19a1a mRNA expression peaked at the onset stage (stage I in March). It was found that their mRNA transcripts were maintained at high level during the migration stage (from stage I in March to stage VI in July). Additionally, the strongest immunolabeling positive signals of Cyp19a1a and FoxL2 proteins were mainly found in the cytoplasm of olfactory bulb cell, stratum granulare and neurogliocyte cells and development stage oocytes. Data indicated that FoxL2 and Cyp19a1a were inducible and functional in the C. nasus ovary development and migration process. Therefore, the present results can be regarded as evidence for indispensable roles of FoxL2 and Cyp19a1a in the ovary development and migratory behavior at gene expression patterns and encoded protein distribution level.